Well the weather turned out much better than forecast and this morning's intrepid Ambler's hardly saw any rain throughout the ride. Due to a combination of post Majorca lethargy, Easter Holiday laziness and the trauma of the clock's springing forward an hour, the small group of less than hardy souls who pitched up this morning did a very abbreviated version of the planned ride. Four Amblers' set off from Brackla together with three Pacers to head off around the Coast and out towards Llantwit Major. A brisk South Westerly breeze helped us around Ogmore and to St Brides where the two small groups split, with the Amblers deciding to do an easy jaunt to St Athan and back via coffee and toasted fruit loaf at Cafe Velo. The pace was a relatively sedate 16mph today, except for a bit of a sprint by Tony Mansell as the smell of toasted fruit loaf reached his nostrils about a mile from the Cafe.
The route home took in the lanes and the Coast Road once more and all was going swimmingly until I punctured quite appropriately outside the old Blind School in Southerndown where I proceeded to give a lesson in how not to repair a puncture quickly and efficiently at the roadside. However, 30 minutes, 3 inner tubes, 2 gas canisters and 3 different pumps later we were back on our merry way. Thanks to Tony (technical support), Tom (just passing by on his tractor and carrying a track pump) and Nick (sense of humour). Note to self, carry glasses, pump and change spare inner tubes at least one every decade! Still, overall a very pleasant ride that actually lived up (or down) to the ride name and was an old fashioned amble. Ambling around a small portion of the Vale today were:
Tony Mansell
Nick Langley
Wayne Evans - Great to see you back buddy
Mark P
The Pacers out with us for a while were:
Steven M
Mark R
Gregg B
Next week, longer and higher ( but obviously still with a coffee stop)
